Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 22:55:15 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US CA: Rogan at Center of Medicinal Marijuana Controversy
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Source: Glendale News-Press Leader (CA)
Contact: FAX: 818-241-1975
Pubdate: Fri, 3 Apr 1998
Author: Jacqueline Fox
ROGAN AT CENTER OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA CONTROVERSY
GLENDALE - It was never supposed to go this far. That's the sentiment
expressed by Congressman Jim Rogan Thursday, a Republican who represents
Glendale, on the growing controversy over his stand on the medicinal use of
marijuana.
Rogan first came under fire after voting March 4 to support a House
resolution that states marijuana "is a dangerous and addictive drug and
should not be legalized for medicinal use."
The "sense of Congress resolution" carries no legal weight but instead
helps gauge support for future legislation on the issue.
Before voting on the resolution, Rogan spoke about a cousin, who in 1980
was diagnosed with cancer. In transcripts from remarks made in front of the
Judiciary Committee ~ to which Rogan was recently named ~ Rogan said his
cousin's use of marijuana for treatment "had everything to do with him
being able to get out of bed, eat, go to work and be productive for another
decade."
Rogan said his support of the House resolution is consistent with his
earlier approval of a medicinal marijuana bill during his stay in the state
Assembly.
But on Monday, several demonstrators gathered outside his Washington, D.C.
office to protest what they said is a blatant "flip-flop" on the issue.
During the protest, Cheryl Miller, a 51-year-old woman who suffers from
multiple sclerosis, and her husband, Jim Miller, 45, were arrested after
Cheryl allegedly ate marijuana in Rogan's office.
The Millers, from Silverton, N.J., were arrested by Capitol Police on
suspicion of possession of marijuana and later released. They are scheduled
to go before a Washington judge next month, according to Capitol Police
Sgt. David Nichols. In Washington, it is a criminal offense to possess any
amount of marijuana, Nichols said.
The demonstration was coordinated by the Marijuana Policy Project, a
D.C.-based advocacy group started in 1995. However, Robert Kampia, the
group's co-founder and director of government relations, said the idea to
protest at Rogan's office was the Millers' alone.
"Rogan said his support for medicinal marijuana and his support for this
bill is consistent," Kampia said. "But we say it is completely
inconsistent. In D.C. he voted for a resolution that says marijuana has
absolutely no medical value. It is the exact opposite of what he voted on
in 1995. You can't have it both ways."
But Rogan insists he never changed his stand on the issue. He said the
resolution he was voting on was merely an opinion, adding that, when he
spoke about his cousin, he, too was merely giving his opinion.
"I was told the resolution was just Congress expressing its point of view,"
Rogan said Thursday.
Rogan said he has always supported the use of medicinal marijuana for
limited purposes only, such as treating the terminally ill, alleviating
nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and possibly for patients
suffering from glaucoma. But he stresses he does not support full
legalization of marijuana, and said he would only support a medicinal
marijuana bill if it specified limited use of the drug for certain cases
and included stringent regulations over who could administer it.
"If this had been a bill I would have sought permission to draft an
amendment to it," Rogan said. "I would vote today if a bill said marijuana
would be prescribed by a doctor for terminally ill patients for legitimate
reasons. But I don't want to see it prescribed for headaches or
toothaches."
Rogan said members of Congress are not required to vote on a resolution to
speak on it, and said he could have abstained from voting altogether. He
voted on the resolution on his first day meeting with the committee. "This
was not a bill at all. It's an opinion piece," Rogan said.
Rogan said the Millers and he sat down in his office before their arrest to
discuss the issue. "I told them, `I don't know what you were told about my
position,' and told them what my position was," Rogan said. "And Mr. Miller
told me that that was not what he was told. When he heard the facts, he was
apologetic."
In a telephone interview, Jim Miller said he "felt much better" about the
issue after speaking with Rogan.
Demonstrators also gathered at Rogan's Pasadena office Monday; however, no
one was arrested, said Jeff Lennan, a spokesman for Rogan's office.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard Ad Disturbs Sixth Graders ('Associated Press' Article
About Kids In Moline, Illinois, Doesn't Even Mention The Hemp Product
Kids Object To, But It's Interesting To Wonder How Many Youngsters
That Age 30 Years Ago Would Have Recognized A Cannabis Leaf)
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1998 19:32:38 -0400
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: US IL: Wire: Billboard Ad Disturbs 6th-Graders
To: DrugSense News Service
Organization: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: GDaurer
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: 3 April 1998
BILLBOARD AD DISTURBS 6th-GRADERS
MOLINE, Ill. (AP) - Kids 1, Hemp 0.
About 20 Ericsson School sixth-graders were shocked to see a billboard
featuring what looked like a huge marijuana leaf go up outside their school.
So they decided to write a letter to urge the advertising company to
relocate the ad for a hemp-based shampoo.
``We know that your job is to sell advertising space,'' the students wrote
in their letter to Lamar Advertising on Tuesday. ``We do not expect you to
censor your client's ads, but we object to the placement of this ad so close
to our school.''
By the time classes began Wednesday morning, the offending ad was gone.
``I am extremely proud of them. The kids were disturbed by it, and they did
something about it,'' Principal Patricia Nelson said.
While industrial hemp can be used to make a variety of products - including
paper, clothing, construction materials and rope - it is a member of the
cannabis family, which includes marijuana. The two kinds of plant are often
difficult to tell apart.
``Had we known that there was a hemp leaf on the board, we would never have
placed it near a school,'' said Chris Iversen, Lamar Advertising's general
manager.

Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 17:03:44 +0000
From: Jay Stewart
To: psavin@olywa.net, admins@olywa.net, scott@olywa.net
Subject: Re: Liberator OnLine, Vol. 3, No. 7
From: Advocates for Self-Government (advo@best.com)
Subject: Liberator OnLine, Vol. 3, No. 7
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 13:19:20 -0800 (PST)
Reply-to: liberator@lists.best.com
To: liberator@lists.best.com
Drug-Testing Industry Urges Prohibition of Legal Hemp Products
A leading drug-testing industry trade journal is calling on Congress
to amend federal law to prohibit the possession and sale of currently
legal hemp products -- despite the fact that those products are
endorsed by health experts and have no mind-altering qualities.
The call is in response to mounting scientific evidence demonstrating
that standard drug tests cannot distinguish whether an individual has
smoked marijuana or consumed legal hemp products such as hemp oil.
"There is little question that the most pressing issue in drug testing
today is the commercial distribution of hemp products, ...which when
used or ingested result in forensically significant amounts of
cannabinoids in urine, blood, saliva, and hair," Theodore Shults wrote
in the January 1998 edition of MRO Alert.
"... The solution is to draft acceptable federal legislative action
that will amend the Federal Drug Control Act. Essentially, this would
remove products that would cause a positive urinalysis from
distribution and make their use 'illegal.'"
The importation and possession of hemp fiber, seeds, and products is
legal under federal law. Hemp health products, such as hemp seed oil,
are sold commercially in health food stores across the nation. Some
prominent health professionals, such as Dr. Andrew Weil, tout the
nutritional benefits of hemp oil, noting that it is second only to soy
in protein and contains the highest concentration of essential amino
and fatty acids found in any food.
A series of studies conducted this past summer and reported in the
Journal of Analytical Toxicology indicated that regular users of the
oil may test positive for low levels of THC.
Recently, a jury in Delaware overturned a U.S. Air Force court martial
after hearing evidence that hemp oil may test positive for marijuana
on a urine test.
Shults warned that unless such products are banned, "it is only a
matter of time before federal drug testing programs will be legally
challenged on this constitutional issue."
(Source: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
[NORML])
Jay Stewart
Vice President
Olympia Networking Services - "Premier Internet Access"
Phone (360) 753.3636
Fax (360) 357.6160
http://www.olywa.net/

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